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GM has hired Richard Westbrook to drive its Corvette-inspired race car in the 2012 Grand-Am Series.

British sports-car racing veteran Richard Westbrook has become a full-time General Motors factory driver. He will contest the 2012 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series for the manufacturer driving one of its new Corvette-inspired Daytona Prototypes.

Westbrook, who entered the GM fold to race for Corvette Racing at the Sebring, Le Mans and Road Atlanta endurance events in 2011, will drive the Spirit of Daytona Racing team's Corvette Daytona Prototype in 2012. His regular teammate in the Chevrolet-engined Coyote chassis will be Spaniard Antonio García, also of Corvette Racing in the American Le Mans Series.

The deal, which encompasses the three Le Mans-rules endurance events with Corvette Racing, brings to an end Westbrook's involvement in the FIA GT1 World Championship. He was a front-runner in a partial-season effort with the Matech Ford team in 2010 and a race winner with the JR Motorsports Nissan squad in 2011.

Westbrook, who had a one-year stint as a Porsche factory driver in 2008, said, "The most important thing for me is to work with a manufacturer. This is something that I pushed for.

"This deal means that I will still do the three big endurance events with Corvette Racing, but I will get the chance to go for a championship.

"I loved racing in GT1, and I will miss it, but there is so much uncertainty around that series, whereas now is the right time to be joining Grand-Am."

Westbrook, who has made two previous DP starts, will get his first taste of the Spirit of Daytona Corvette at the official Daytona 24 Hours test weekend on Jan. 6-8. He and García will be joined in the car at the 24 Hours by Corvette Racing regulars Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen.